Rivera v. BAC Home Loans Servicing, L.P.

756 F. Supp. 2d 1193, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 123694, 2010 WL 4916405
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedNovember 22, 2010
DocketCase C 10-02439 RS
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 756 F. Supp. 2d 1193 (Rivera v. BAC Home Loans Servicing, L.P.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rivera v. BAC Home Loans Servicing, L.P., 756 F. Supp. 2d 1193, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 123694, 2010 WL 4916405 (N.D. Cal. 2010).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO DISMISS

RICHARD SEEBORG, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiffs Jason and Mikala Rivera filed their original complaint on June 2, 2010, alleging thirteen claims for relief, and on June 4, 2010 filed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) enjoining defendants ReconTrust Company, N.A. (“ReconTrust”) and BAC Home Loans Servicing, LP (“BAC”) from conducting a trustee’s sale of plaintiffs property located at 153 Smith Street, Alamo, California, 94507 (the “Property”). This Court issued the TRO along with an order to show cause why a preliminary injunction should not be granted. After a hearing, the Court denied plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction. Defendants then filed a motion to dismiss, after which plaintiffs filed a First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) on August 3, 2010 alleging seven claims for relief. Defendants have filed a supplemental memorandum of points and authorities in support of their motion to dismiss, which the Riveras have opposed. For the reasons stated below, the motion *1196 to dismiss is granted without leave to amend.

II. BACKGROUND

In the FAC, the Riveras allege that, on August 18, 2006, they purchased the Property after negotiating a mortgage and home equity line of credit (“HELOC”) with defendant Countrywide Bank, N.A. (“Countrywide Bank”), whose successor in interest is defendant Bank of America, N.A. (“BofA”). According to the FAC, the mortgage and HELOC (together, the “Home Loans”), which were memorialized by promissory notes and secured by deeds of trust, were brokered by defendant Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. (“CHL”) and were subsequently assigned by Countrywide Bank to BofA. Plaintiffs allege that the mortgage was eventually assigned from BofA to defendant Vantium Capital, Inc., dba Acqura Loan Services, while the HELOC and related promissory note and deeds of trust were assigned to defendant E*Trade. ReconTrust was the initial trustee on the deeds of trust. The promissory notes executed pursuant to the Home Loans, as well as the deeds of trust, were serviced by defendants Vantium Capital, Inc. and BAC. 1

The FAC avers that defendants failed to make a number of disclosures required by the Truth in Lending Act (“TILA”), 15 U.S.C. § 1601 et seq., and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (“RE SPA”), 12 U.S.C. § 2605 et seq., prior to executing the Home Loans, including disclosing the difference between plaintiffs’ applicable interest rate and the promoted rate, a good faith estimate of the closing costs, an itemization of the amount financed, a notice of the plaintiffs’ right to cancel and right to rescind, the method used to determine the finance charges and loan balance, and the likelihood of negative amortization given the repayment structure. The FAC also avers that defendant Stephanie Saunders, on behalf of CHL, completed the loan application and that “Defendants inserted an inflated income” in order to qualify the Riveras for loans that they could not otherwise afford. 2 As a result of these alleged misrepresentations and omissions, plaintiffs contend that they were induced to accept unaffordable loans and eventually fell behind on their payments.

Once the Riveras became delinquent on their loans, ReconTrust recorded a notice of default on May 2, 2008 and eventually recorded a notice of sale on August 3, 2008. 3 RJN Ex. D. The Riveras subsequently sent to CHL, ReconTrust, Countrywide Bank and Mortgage Electronic Registration System, Inc. a “Notice of Right to Cancel and Opportunity to Cure” *1197 on July 29, 2009 and a “Notice of Removal” of defendants as trustee as well as a “Notice of Revocation of Power of Attorney” on July 24, 2009. 4 Based on these allegations, plaintiffs assert claims for relief for violations of (1) TILA (against defendants CHL and Countrywide Bank), (2) RESPA, (3) fraud, (4) California Business and Professions Code section 17200 et. seq., (5) negligence, (6) accounting and (7) quiet title. The parties appeared for oral argument on the motion to dismiss on September 2, 2010.

III. LEGAL STANDARD

A complaint must contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R.Civ.P. 8(a)(2). While “detailed factual allegations are not required,” a complaint must have sufficient factual allegations to “state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, — U.S. -, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1949, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (citing Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). A claim is facially plausible “when the pleaded factual content allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. Claims grounded in fraud are also subject to FRCP Rule 9(b), which provides that “[i]n allegations of fraud or mistake, a party must state with particularity the circumstances constituting fraud or mistake.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 9(b). To satisfy that rule, a plaintiff must allege the “who, what, where, when, and how” of the charged misconduct. Cooper v. Pickett, 137 F.3d 616, 627 (9th Cir.1997).

A motion to dismiss a complaint under FRCP Rule 12(b)(6) tests the legal sufficiency of the claims alleged in the complaint. See Parks Sch. of Bus. v. Symington, 51 F.3d 1480, 1484 (9th Cir.1995). Dismissal under FRCP Rule 12(b)(6) may be based either on the “lack of a cognizable legal theory” or on “the absence of sufficient facts alleged under a cognizable legal theory.” Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dep’t, 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th Cir.1988). When evaluating such a motion, the court must accept all material allegations in the complaint as true, even if doubtful, and construe them in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955. “[C]onclusory allegations of law and unwarranted inferences,” however, “are insufficient to defeat a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim.” Epstein v. Wash. Energy Co.,

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Bluebook (online)
756 F. Supp. 2d 1193, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 123694, 2010 WL 4916405, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rivera-v-bac-home-loans-servicing-lp-cand-2010.